when i was in 8th grade i played club volleyball. and it was terrible. i love volleyball but it entailed traveling every weekend, practice a few nights a week, and i had to play with older girls bc of my bday.. which when you're 14 and they are 16.. that's kinda a big difference. and it was during basketball season, so basically i was just constantly playing something and really burnt out.

i hated going so much that my best friend, julie, and i tried to hurt me.. running and purposefully falling, falling down the stairs, etc. in hopes of spraining my ankle or something.

nothing worked.

for some reason i just thought of that in light of going to work..ummm.. jaykay im not gonna do that. im but i really dont wanna go to work.

ok, lord help me. and pray that the lord will give me an 8-5 job asap. and GRACE tonight. thanks :)

this. is. so. dumb.

and i should have just brushed it off and not let it effect me. but it did. all day.

i got this free 7 day pass to golds gym that i have been using. the guy who checked me in last friday obviously didn't care too much about his job, was tired or realized that people that use that pass just do it for a week because it's free, not really because they want to join. he didn't make me fill out any papers, take me on a tour or anything. which was fine with me.

today i go in and it was a different dude and he's all you need to fill this out and lets sit down and figure out your goals and get you signed up.. yada yada. so for the next 30 min plus, this guy is explaining all these packages to me and trying to get me to sign up for a membership. luckily i left my wallet in the car (thank the Lord!) and was finally able to escape with the "let me work out and think about it" card and headed to the elliptical. i was fortunate enough to sneak out after my workout unseen by the man. but then you know what.. HE CALLED ME! oooh sandra, how was your workout? i didn't get to talk to you before you left. you coming in tomorrow? we'll get you all signed up. blah blah.

shoot me. i HATE situations like this. i finally just told him i felt pressured and just needed to think about it.. with then he responds that he didnt mean to pressure me and somehow turned the situation around to make me feel sorry for him..? i dunno what happened. but seriously i've been thinking about it all day. feeling manipulated is gross.

so the end of the story.. im not going back to golds.

its been so hard to study this week. which isnt good since i have a bio lab final fri and then a lecture final in bio and chem the next week that are both comprehensive.. no fun. well actually i kinda enjoy it. except for that lately i just want to read my bible ALL DAY! it feels so alive.

and the Lord has been reminding me of the last couple years of college and grace to be bold that i was walking in. it's still there (the beautiful thing with God, nothing is ever lost), i've just let apathy and the fear of man get in. when i was in israel i remember thinking that when i got back to america i was going to tell everyone about jesus and pray for them simply because WE CAN. it really is a HUGE freedom that i constantly take for granted. i pray that the Lord would wake us up to this great gift he has given us in america today. we need to take hold of it, because i have a feeling it wont last forever.

anyways, im tired of excuses.

i remember in college praying for sick people all the time by myself full of faith that God would heal them or give someone a word if i felt it was from the Lord. there was a season when i literally didn't care what people thought about me and if i was dumb or not and just stepped out constantly. gave God room to move. i'm hungry for that again and want to be eager to see God move and manifest His Kingdom TODAY!

Pr. 28:1

the wicked flee when no man pursues but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Bill Johnson quote i cant quit thinking about.. "a day without a miracle is just unnecessary."

i want to daily put myself in a situation where God could release a miracle.

(when i was in israel someone prophsied to me that "it is time".. don't you love words like that? ;) ok... thats great...but time for what?? i still dont really know.. except i was reminded of this song today.. and in light of everything God is reminding me of, it bares witness.)

Freedom Calling by Daniel Bashta

its time to let my faith arise

its time heaven heard my cry

its time for the blind to see

its time for the winds to change

its time to live again

its time to be free

miracles are coming

miracles are coming

yes, i believe

so come and break these chains

i will worship you untamed

when we praise your freedom falls

when we dance the walls come down

freedom is falling

freedom is falling

freedom is falling all around

It's time!

so let my faith arise

heaven hear my cry

it's time for the blind to see

so come on and shout shout shout for joy

im gonna let my love be heard

freedom is calling out

so come on sing sing oh my soul

let the healing flow

freedom i have found

Your freedom i have found

bill johnson one-liners

i personally love them. i follow him on twitter, so that means one-liners whenever i want. perfect.

change brings the secrets of the heart to light.

i never deliver a message that didn't deliver me first.

god never sets us up to fail, only to grow.

a day without a miracle is just unnecessary.

i have a piece of the original flame & it's my responsibility to keep it burning.

god thinks differently. he looks at a piece of bread and thinks it will feed 5000.

jealous christians just don't know who they are.

royalty is my identity. servanthood is my assignment. intimacy with God is my life source.

we don't become culturally relevant when we become like the culture, but rather when we model what the culture hungers to become.

religion is not only boring; it's cruel. it takes the breath out of every good thing.

when adam and eve fell, they fell from god's perspective on reality.

history is made in the quiet place.

family is god's government.

every season of growth is rewarded by pruning.

if jesus did the things he did as god then that is awesome. but if he did them as a man than i am unsatisfied.

jesus is perfect theology.

why did jesus do miracles? it was necessary to reveal the father.

jesus is returning for a bride whose body is in equal proportion to her head.

vision gives pain purpose.

suffering is temporal. victory is permanent.

god is better than we think.

jesus is the most normal christian in the bible.

just call me sandra-homemaker.. well don't actually, but i have been quite domestic this week which ended at lunch with the grand finale. lamb was the first meat i had in israel after a 2.5 year stint of being a vegetarian (which is over..praise Him!). i recently had lamb meatballs as an appetizer at a wedding that were to die for, and so have had the idea of making lamb burgers in my head for several weeks. and since i got a sudden urge to go to the grocery store this week, lamb burgers were on the menu. i am not sure the last time i cooked an actual meal or had gone to the grocery store and left with more than 3 things, for that matter, so these lamb burgers were quite the talk around the coleman household the past couple days.

so there's grocery shopping and cooking and then yesterday i got into a "cleaning mood," which usually consists of straightening my room and doing the dishes.. but no, yesterday i was full out on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor! sweat occompanied my hard work and afterwards i lit a candle to make it smell like cinnamon and sat on the couch and just looked at the kitchen for..a good while.

today for lunch i made the lamb burgers. corn on the cob. (and erica made potatoes.) and of course i had one of the red vevlet cookies for dessert (which is a "domestic" activity i LOVE to do..too bad we cant live off cake & cookies).. and maybe it's the 5th cookie i've had since yesterday, but who's counting?:) so cheers to my week of domesticity! i also bought wine this week; after work the week will officially conclude as i sip on that. it was fun and i feel accomplished, although i definitely cannot comprehend doing this everyday. wow. way to go moms-of-the-world, you are truly amazing.

and in light of my last post.. i would have wanted to be one of the "mattithiah of the levites, the firstborn of shallum the korahite, [who had] the trusted office over the things that were baked in the pans." 1 chronicles 9:31

wow, God's so cool.

it's funny that i was full-time involved in a house of prayer for 1.5 years and have read 1 chronicles several times trying to gain understanding, but never really got it. i understood that jesus was worthy of continual worship because he's just so freaking awesome, but that's about it.

this morning i opened to the table of contents in my bible looking for a book to read that im not familiar with. completely forgetting what 1 chronicles was about, i thought umm i guess i'll start reading that. after flipping through the first few chapters of names i got to chapter nine.

the levites.

the gatekeepers.

the ones called to minister to the lord.

as im reading the next few chapters i feel the lord is giving me understanding and opening it up to me. so many little revelations and practical applications and lessons are popping out all over the place.

then i get to chapter 15:37, it says that Asaph and his brothers were left to minister to the Lord regularly, as every day's work requires. (modern day: intercessory missionaries). and then a few verses later it says they "were designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, because His mercy endures forever." i love that. because his mercy is constantly being poured out, thanksgiving should constantly be ascending before Him.

the israelites had the ark of the covenant, now the whole earth has the Holy Spirit !

so im convinced.

today, the Lord is raising up a global tabernacle and appointing people to minister before them as their job. and really it's His mercy to the earth. but just like michal (saul's daughter), in 15:29, "looked through a window and saw king david whirling and playing music and despised him in her heart" we should be aware of that spirit in the earth today. i think it's partly a religious spirit.

i'll leave you with david's song of thanksgiving. ch 16. (if i was musical, i would totally write some music and make this a song. but im not. so i hope someone else does and then i can listen to it a lot.)

i' am blessed with a good handful of pick-up-where-you-left-off friendships. where time and space are irrelevant and once you get some quality time together it's as though you see them everyday.

heidi and i got lunch today. i dont really remember the last time just her and i spent time together. but i feel like i just inhaled a massive bucket of fresh air. so good.

this pic is from 2007!!! how weird is that. we were at a friends bachelorette party.

funny note about this pic: we had just discovered that if you put your hand on your hop that it gave you "celebrity arms" aka skinny looking arms. little did we know we would start such a trend ;)

randomly really excited about owning and decorating a house one day.

that will be fun :)

lately i seems to stumble across something that points to jesus not coming back any minute fairly often. i am not sure why i keep noticing things pertaining to this, but here's one for today...

mathew 23:39 Jesus is talking to the Jewish leaders of the day..

"for i say to you, you shall see me no more till you say, "blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

sooo since this clearly hasn't happened. jesus clearly isn't about to bust into planet earth any second. and if he did can you imagine what the would be like? it blows my mind. it is way better that he actually has a plan (and tells us about it!) and that it manifests his mercy completely. the progression of things is preparing the most hearts possible to not be offended when he comes as the lion this time, and not the lamb.

(sidenote: so when jesus came the first time most of the jews who were looking for the messiah didn't recognize him.. they weren't secular. they were actively studying and watching. and he shows up right in front of them and they dont know him; they are offended and don't believe. honestly, my heart trembles thinking about when he comes back and wondering if we will recognize him. the jews thought he was coming as a conquering king and he came as a baby and a servant. sometimes i wonder if we're looking for the right jesus. he is so kinda and compassionate and loves to heal, but that's not what he is coming back to do. he will be "traveling in the greatness of his strength.."(is63). sadly, i think the 'great apostasy' will come largely from the fact that we don't know him like this and think 'God is love, he would never do this (ie. wars, famine, earthquakes, death, water to blood, locust, etc...')

in light of that:) we should pray for israel... it certainly will be the great & terrible day of the lord..

for if [israel's] rejection [of christ] is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? (romans 11:15)

those who come he shall cause to take root in jacob, israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. (isaiah 27:6)

i was listening to the prayer room and they were singing..

it's just a little while longer and i'll see You.

it's just a little while longer and we'll be together.

now i cant stop smiling :)

we're gonna see jesus before we know it.

face to face.

and know just as we are fully known.

hallelujah!

haircut time

beforee..

aaafter.. (like how the guy from church camp would say it)

i dont really have anything to say.

except for that i feel like i know some of the most amazing people in the entire world. my friends are so wonderful and inspire me in so many different ways. THANK YOU.

.1. i like alabama a lot

.2. blue bell's new "cake & icecream" is ligit

.3. spring time has been kind to my emotions

.4. i hope in heaven that i sing like audra lynn

.5. if you need new soap or face wash, you should order it from lush i bought some face wash when i was in nyc and LOVE it!

.6. goal: cut back (& eventually eliminate) artificial sweeteners from my diet...

this is where my friend, astrid, lives in norway! she lives in a small town outside of bergen (google image bergen..its ridiculous). any takers on a norway trip?